A Cat Tells No Tales
by ZephyrLegend
Summary: Louie seems to be acting a bit strangely... Set during PD2. Oneshot. Mia/Nicholas


Fat Louie wandered the grounds of the palace. He sauntered, as if he was relaxed. In truth, he was ill at ease. That poufy dog, Maurice was his name, was often a bit of trouble for Louie. The occasional twitch of his ear was the only indication that he was in any way worried. He wandered over to Mia who was practicing her archery. He rubbed up against her leg with affection.

"Oh, hello Fat Louie!" Mia said happily. "Where's Maurice?"

She bent down to pet him.

"Hi, Lou." Lily muttered. Louie looked lazily at her and laid down on the grass.

Mia returned to her archery, and Andrew joined them.

"I just came over to see if you would like to join me for lunch?" Andrew asked.

"Alright Andrew." Mia replied, "We'll be up in a minute."

"Hello there, Fat Louie." Andrew said, bending down to greet him. He reached out a hand.

Louie backed away and hissed, ears pressed flat to his head. He got up and sat behind Lily. Andrew looked flustered.

"Oh, don't worry about it Andrew." Mia said reassuringly, "Louie is only friendly with people he's used to. Namely, me and Lily."

"Right." Andrew said, "I'll see you in a few minutes then?"

Mia nodded and Andrew left. Lily let out a snort.

"If I could get away with hissing at him, I would." She said, laughing. "You think we maybe should have told him that Louie's only friendly with people he _likes_? And that he's never liked anyone other than us?"

Mia laughed. "Maybe. He'll find out soon enough, I suppose."

"You don't like Andrew, do you?" Lily said to Fat Louie in a babyish voice, patting his head.

Mia began packing up her things, and Louie got up and wandered toward the garden. Lily sat back and watched Louie wander away. She spotted Nicholas sitting on the stone bench, reading, like he so often does. Curious, she watched as Louie wandered over to Nicholas.

"Mia!" Lily whispered, "Come look at this!"

"Huh?" Mia said vacantly, and turned to look at what Lily was referring to.

They were both surprised when Louie jumped up on the bench beside Nicholas. He began rubbing his head on Nicholas' arm and pawing his hand, indicating that he wanted affection. Nicholas absentmindedly scratched Louie behind the ears, not looking up from his book.

Mia and Lily were flabbergasted. Lily shook her head and finally managed to say, "I think I'm going to have to agree with Louie on this one."

Mia gave her a frustrated look and stalked away.

The following morning Louie sat on the kitchen table in an effort to hide from Maurice. He watched carefully as his boy made his girl laugh. Then suddenly Nicholas' face turned serious.

"You are amazing. I've tried to fight it, I have but… You overwhelm me." He gazed at her intensely.

She gazed back in a mocking manner. "You are…" She made a show of stepping closer to him, "...an excellent flirt! You almost had me going there for a second."

Nicholas smirked, "I did, didn't I?"

Mia took a bite of her food, "Yeah. I almost forgot what a rat you are."

Nicholas just chuckled.

"It should take you four seconds to walk to that door." She pointed to the doorway, "I'll give you two."

Mia turned away from Nicholas and continued eating her food. Nicholas refused to be baited by her obvious dismissal.

"Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's." Nick said knowingly.

Mia looked frustrated, but kept her cool.

"Yes, it is quite a film isn't it?" And she stalked away and out the kitchen door.

Nicholas turned to Louie, who was staring at him meaningfully. "It's just you and me now, isn't it fat Louie?"

This prompted Mia, who was not yet fully out of earshot to pause and listen.

Nicholas walked over to the kitchen table and pet Louie absently.

"What she doesn't know," He looked directly at the cat, "Is that I really meant it."

Mia took a shuddering breath. He meant it? She was suddenly sorry had been so mean to him…

Meanwhile, Nicholas continued talking to Louie.

"You know I mean it, don't you? Well you must, because I heard that you're not very friendly with anyone except Mia. I mean, _you_ trust me, right?" Nicholas sighed, "I wish everything were cut and dried like your life. No, we humans, we have to make everything more complicated, it seems."

Nicholas continued to pet Louie, and eventually Louie laid down in front of him on the table.

"I think I love her, Louie." Nicholas continued, "She's beautiful, inside and out. I can't keep denying it anymore."

Mia felt her heart race at the sound of those words. If only she could respond…

"You won't tell her, will you?"


End file.
